Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has raised £650 million from its first UK-denominated bond offering under its European Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme, a statement said on Wednesday.
The fund received orders that exceeded the total supply by about six times, for a £300 million five-year bond and a £350 million 15-year bond, according to the statement.
This is the third international debt issuance by the Public Investment Fund, after raising $2 billion from a sukuk offering in February, and selling $5 billion in bonds in January.
The statement did not clarify the yield on the offered bonds, which were indicative of 135 basis points over UK government bonds for the five-year bond tranche, and 145 basis points over UK government bonds for the 15-year tranche.
During 2023, the fund sold $3.5 billion worth of sukuk in October, and issued $5.5 billion worth of green bonds in February of the same year.
The Public Investment Fund is a key part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil. The fund plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years in everything from electric cars to semiconductors, resorts and sports.
